I just got back from seeing the Taiwanese/French foreign film "What Time is it There?" I must warn, the main reason I am starting this thread is because I want to get some reactions from others who have seen it. I want these reactions to help me to find out what the main ideas are behind this movie, and why some of the characters did what they did. To do this, I will be mentioning spoilers. So, if you have not seen the movie and want to, or think you might plan on watching it... Do Not Read Past This Point 1) Why did the main character (the watch street vendor) begin setting all the clocks to Paris time? The only feasible explanation I could come up with is that he was smitten with the girl that bought his watch off him, and the only thing he knew about her was that she was in Paris. But why specifically does he do this? It becomes this huge obsession with him, taking large risks to set bigger and more important clocks to Paris time. I just have this overriding sense that I missed something. 2) Why did the female star go to Paris, and why did she stay? What I gathered about her presence in Paris was that she was a tourist. But throughout the movie, she really doesn't do many "touristy" things. Also, it is VERY obvious (even to me) that she is utterly miserable while in Paris. Nothing goes right for her, and she is so completely alienated and alone that it is painful to watch (even for someone as insensitive as me ). Why did she stay? Maybe her life wasn't necessarily better in Taipei, but it sure as hell couldn't have been worse. At least in Taipei she could understand what people said to her. 3) What is the significance of the dead father's reappearance at the very end of the film? The first scene of the movie was so painful. It was a solid 5 minutes of watching the father sit there and smoke a cigarette, doing little else. At the time, I thought it was because he was going to have a large role in the movie, so we (the audience) were meant to get used to him, catch his mannerisms and find meaning in them, possibly. But no, the guy was dead in the VERY next scene. By the end of the movie, the only reason I can find that the first scene was so long is so that the director would know for CERTAIN that the audience would recognize the father when he appears in Paris at the end. But what does that appearance mean? Did the father reencarnate? If not, why fake his death and move to Paris? I think he did reencarnate, just as the mother so desparately hoped for, but he appeared in Paris because that was where his son's (and what I think was originally his as well?) watch was. Now that is all well and dandy of a theory (the watch one), but it brings me to my final question... 4) What the hell did the director mean or want us to think by all this crap? I understand that it is a movie dealing with alienation. I understand that the main characters are desperately alone. But what the hell does the reappearing father in the end signify, and what is the director trying to say by essentially resolving NONE of the film's conflicts? (I am serious, NOTHING is solved in this movie, and that was what infuriated me the most). It is at this point that I am at a loss. I have read review after review of this movie, some of which hated it, but most of which loved its pants off. But I have this lingering feeling that I missed some key connection, some very meaningful revelation was completely passed by, or lost on me. So, my fellow BBSers who have seen the movie and might have a bit more of a clue than I, what do you think?
Okay, I now see part of the error in making this thread when I did. I started it the day after this movie came out. It is a foreign film, and I am sure that not too many have seen it. Secondly, I started the thread very late at night, and few saw it before it was scrolled off the screen, I think. I know this is somewhat taboo, but I am bumping it back up in hopes that someone who did see the movie might notice it and give me their thoughts, because good analysis of the film still escapes me. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
